Increasing the asking price of your property

googler

somethingcorporate wrote: »

£250 to withdraw? what an absolute con.

How they stay in business is mind-boggling.

The withdrawal fee is surely there to ensure that they DO stay in business, for if the owner withdraws from the contract, they certainly won't be getting any commission on a sale.....

If you were in business, how would you recoup your costs if your clients were able to walk away from their contracts without some form of withdrawal fee? Increased fees for other clients who do complete their contracts?

JimmyTheWig

But what happens if the agent is rubbish?
What happens if they put no effort into marketing a property?
Is the vendor still expected to pay a fee to market the property elsewhere?

lovinituk

googler wrote: »

The withdrawal fee is surely there to ensure that they DO stay in business, for if the owner withdraws from the contract, they certainly won't be getting any commission on a sale.....

If you were in business, how would you recoup your costs if your clients were able to walk away from their contracts without some form of withdrawal fee? Increased fees for other clients who do complete their contracts?

The OP has already paid a fee up front so the estate agent has not done any work for free.

googler

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

But what happens if the agent is rubbish?
What happens if they put no effort into marketing a property?
Is the vendor still expected to pay a fee to market the property elsewhere?

That's a separate issue, surely? There's no suggestion from the OP that that's the case, but even so, as long as the EA can reasonably demonstrate that they've acted as per the contract, I'd suggest the fee is payable.

If the OP didn't like the terms of the contract, or wanted a performance or activity-related withdrawal clause, the time to decide on either of those was before he signed.

DVardysShadow

GDB2222 wrote: »

There is no specific statute that deals with this particular case. It is simply a matter of general contract law. Dvardy thinks there is an implied term that you won't increase the asking price in the agency agreement that you signed. I don't agree, but if it went to court it would be a matter for the District Judge to decide.

There might be some case law (previous decided cases in a higher court), but I doubt it. In any case, probably neither side would be represented (as costs will not normally be awarded in these cases), so it's unlikely that either side will even know about any case law. It'll just be you and the estate agent arguing things out between you.

More accurately, the implied term is that the property will be marketed at a certain price. In other words, the goal posts are that the agent earns a commission if the property sells for a certain price. I think that if it is well argued a District Judge would be sympathetic to the argument, but the outcome would depend on the day.

If there were no commission payable on a successful sale in excess of the termination fee, then it would become become much harder to argue that changing the price has resulted in a loss of opportunity for the agent to gain his commission. OP clarifies that there is a commission, so OP has moved the goal posts for the Agent.

PeteHi wrote: »

Interesting reply, thanks.

Ive got the contract here and it says "The property is to be marketed at an initial asking price of X and our fees are payable at 1.25% of the sale price, be it higher or lower than the initial asking price"

Note 'initial. Nowhere on it does it mention the valuation being revised up or down at any stage.

"Termination fee" "Should the client choose to terminate the agreement at any time then a fee of £250 + VAT will be payable within 28 days".

I'm not choosing to terminate it and don't appear to be breaking any asking price rules as set in their T&C's?

I'm not moved by the contract stating commission on a sale price 'be it higher or lower than the initial asking price'. This merely covers the case of a bidding war which takes the property over initial asking.

GDB2222

lovinituk wrote: »

The OP has already paid a fee up front so the estate agent has not done any work for free.

That's only a fraction of the true cost of marketing a property.

googler

lovinituk wrote: »

The OP has already paid a fee up front so the estate agent has not done any work for free.

The implication being that the initial fee fully compensates the EA; but the fact that there's an initial fee and a withdrawal fee suggests not.

Yes, the initial fee will have brought some money in, but I'd suggest this only covers part of the agent's outlays, costs, expenses; the remainder would be covered by the commission when the property sells, or covered/offset by the withdrawal fee when the OP leaves without selling.

DRP

OP, why don't you do some home improvement (eg. paint your hall and put a new carpet in one of the bedrooms) and tell the EA that you want to increase the price to reflect this.

This is similar to what has happened to a house I've been tracking the last few months - each 'improvement' over about 6 months has corresponded with the asking price increasing by several thousand :rotfl:so it is now 10k more than when marketed in November last year

Also, why increase the price? you are at no obligation to accept an offer lower than your initial asking price - how likely is this to happen in the current market?

lovinituk

GDB2222 wrote: »

That's only a fraction of the true cost of marketing a property.

Really (if the OP is to be believed)....?

PeteHi wrote: »

and I should add I gave them £225 upfront to cover 'marketing costs' (2 ads in local paper and their standard A4 details), so its not like I'm leaving them out of pocket.

googler wrote: »

The implication being that the initial fee fully compensates the EA; but the fact that there's an initial fee and a withdrawal fee suggests not.

There is also the possibility of the EA charging more than the cost of the services provided.

PeteHi

GDB2222 wrote: »

That link shows a contract under which the charge is payable if the agency terminate the agency agreement. Is your contract different?

sorry, yes my contract is different in that it states the fee is only payable if I terminate the agreement, something which I haven't asked to do, just to increase the price.